Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) compared the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act to the attacks on 9/11 and Pearl Harbor.

Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) isn't backing down from a controversial comparison he made on Wednesday, likening the requirement that private insurance plans provide contraception coverage to Pearl Harbor and 9/11.

"I know in your mind, you can think of the times America was attacked," he said at a press conference on Capitol Hill. "One is Dec. 7, that's Pearl Harbor Day. The other is Sept. 11, and that's the day the terrorists attacked. I want you to remember Aug. 1, 2012, the attack on our religious freedom. That is a day that will live in infamy, along with those other dates."

His comments offended many of his Democratic colleagues, earning him especially harsh attacks from members in Hawaii and New York whose districts include the sites of the two attacks. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) called the comment "shameful," and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), whose district includes Ground Zero, said Kelly should apologize.

"It is complete nonsense to suggest that a matter discussed, debated, and approved by the Congress and the President is akin to a surprise attack that killed nearly 2,500 people and launched our nation into the second World War," Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) said in a statement. Inouye witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor and fought in WWII.

But Kelly offered no apology for his remark.

"The HHS mandate is an undeniable and unprecedented attack on Americans’ First Amendment rights,” his spokesman told Newsmax.com.

“Our freedoms and way of life have been under attack before, from both internal and external threats," he said. "If we fail to defend our constitutional rights, we risk losing the freedoms that so many brave men and women have given their lives to defend throughout the course of our nation’s history."

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Out-Of-Touch Politicians

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While running for president in 2007, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani told a reporter at a Montgomery, Ala., supermarket that he estimates "a gallon of milk is probably about a $1.50, a loaf of bread about a $1.25, $1.30, last time I bought one." It must have been a few election cycles since his last trip: The grocery store's website listed milk for $3.38 and bread up to $3.49.

During George H.W. Bush's reelection campaign in 1992, Vice President Dan Quayle scoffed at the "Murphy Brown situation," referring to a television character who had a child out of wedlock. Quayle called the Brown story "totally unreal," adding, "A highly paid professional woman [with a baby] ... give me a break."

In a display of aloofness that many political observers say led to her defeat by Republican Scott Brown, Democratic Senate candidate and Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley erred in brushing off the idea of ramping up her campaigning. When asked whether she was being too apathetic, she referenced one of Brown's ads and fired back, "As opposed to standing outside Fenway Park? In the cold? Shaking hands?"

While visiting the Alamo in 1976, President Gerald Ford bit into a tamale through the husk, a faux pas later deemed the "Great Tamales Incident."

President George H.W. Bush caught flak for appearing awed by a supermarket check-out scanner while touring a grocers convention in 1992. It turned out the president was being shown a new bar code technology, and the convention worker who was alongside Bush later said it's "foolish to think the president doesn't know anything about grocery stores. He knew exactly what I was talking about."

In 2008, President George W. Bush said he had not heard predictions that gas prices could soon hit $4 a gallon. At the time, the national average was $3.29 a gallon.

In 2003, Democratic presidential contender John Kerry ordered Swiss cheese on a cheese steak while campaigning in South Philadelphia, straying from the traditional favorite topping, Cheez Whiz.

Democratic presidential contender Michael Dukakis tried to one-up Republican opponent George H.W. Bush on national defense by striking a pose in an M1 Abrams tank.

Mitt Romney has had his fair share of seemingly out-of-touch statements this election cycle, admitting he likes to "fire people" and expressing amazement at the touchscreen ordering system at convenience store Wawa.

President Barack Obama is not exempt from the "gotcha" moment. In June, he described the private sector economy as "doing fine." The gaffe immediately elicited comparisons with his 2008 Republican opponent, John McCain, who said that the "fundamentals of the economy are strong" in the midst of a crippling financial crisis.